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Iran: Inspections blocked, casting doubt on November deal

UN weapons inspectors from the IAEA are continuing to be blocked by the Iranian government from examining their enrichment facilities, where Western politicians believe to be laboratories for compiling fissile materials for a nuclear weapon. With the deadline for the deal to lift sanctions coming once again at the end of November, prospects are not looking especially good for either side to obtain a compromise. Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said there has been almost no progress in resolving the outstanding allegations of weapons development, despite almost a year of negotiations with the government.

Despite the IAEA’s despondency, the US State Department and the foreign ministries of the other P5+1 powers did not respond to his speech in Washington on Friday. US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with his Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif on November 9 to have bilateral negotiations on the subject, where Amano’s concerns will likely be directly addressed.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has begun to distribute leaflets in northwestern Pakistan, and some five Pakistani Taliban commanders and three Afghan Taliban groups have pledged their support for the militant, self-proclaimed “caliphate.” Pro-ISIS slogans have been seen in major cities of both countries, including around Kabul University, but most experts agree that no IS presence has yet been established in the region. With IS becoming the major inspirational force behind refreshed calls for jihad, efforts are being directed at stemming the dissemination of IS’s message.

Despite the lack of economic growth, Russia is set to reverse is negative demography trends, particularly in overall population, looking to record a rate of 0.5 per 1,000 in 2014, which is the best rate since 1991. Excluding Crimea, the rates are even more positive, with the number of births and deaths remaining relatively constant in the past few years, as Crimea’s population of aging retirees makes Russian fertility and mortality rates appear far worse than they would be otherwise.